Decembrie 2010: Benjamin Lucian Lucescu, 41, owner of American Capital Mortgage Corporation, was charged with knowingly preparing on behalf of a borrower, five residential loan applications related to three different properties that falsified the borrower’s financial qualifications.

“It is important that those in the mortgage industry, like Mr. Lucescu, be held accountable for the devastation they caused by cheating the banks and misleading their customers,” said U.S. Attorney Dwight C. Holten. “We will continue to investigate and prosecute those who cheat the home mortgage loan system.”

Lucescu will appear before U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman for sentencing Feb. 11.

The maximum penalty for each of the three bank fraud convictions is 30 years in prison and a fine of $1 million. The maximum penalty for each of the two wire fraud convictions is 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. The actual sentence will be determined under the federal sentencing guidelines.